Monthly Archives: July 2011

OK, you can buy it for yourself if you’d like. I certainly wouldn’t complain if you bought it for me, though.

Regardless of who you purchase it for, you’d probably like to know what this “complete collection” includes before hitting this eBay auction’s “Buy it Now” button (here), right?

Well, for starters, it includes one boxed TurboDuo system in mint condition and three unboxed TurboDuo systems in excellent condition. It also includes an Arcade Card (which allows you to play all of the system’s Arcade Card titles), a “Diving Board” card (which allows you to play imports) and 129 North American and 30 Japanese games.

Just a few of the games that could be yours ... if you've got $10,000 to blow.

Although I’m hardly the TurboGrafx-16 expert I once was, this auction’s asking price seems a bit high to me–especially since a number of the included games are “loose” (they don’t come with a case and/or manual). Also, this so-called complete collection lacks the most magnificent Arcade Card title of them all: Madou Monogatari.

The titular protagonist in this game and in Hany in the Sky–a bizarre shoot ’em up that was released in 1989–takes a lot of crap these days for looking like an anthropomorphic condom. Although understandable, such point-and-laugh attitudes cause a lot of people to overlook these games in general and this unique platformer–honestly, I’ve never played anything like it–in particular. That’s a shame, especially when it comes to Hany on the Road, which has players race through a series of scrolling, multi-planed (or maybe I should say “multi-roaded,” given the game’s title) stages in order to … actually, I can’t remember why you’re supposed to race through this game. I’m guessing it’s so you can rescue the protagonist’s kidnapped girlfriend, Lemon? Whatever the reason, the journey is plenty pleasant thanks in large part to the game’s attractive, colorful and delightfully varied graphics (each level pretty much has its own look) as well as its jaunty soundtrack. Hany’s travels aren’t without their travails, however; there are times when “the little condom that could,” as I like to call him, feels a tad slippery, for instance, and there are other times when he’s a bit too speedy. Also, his lone method of attack–a backflip kick–can be difficult to time, which likely prompts most people to play the game as I do: By jumping over or otherwise avoiding the game’s baddies–a number of whom are depicted in the cover art above–rather than confronting them head-on.